Political trickery over Warren mayor's bumper stickers?

A spokesman for the Michigan Republican Party blames “childish and amateurish” tactics for what he described as the unauthorized use of his name to obtain information about Warren Mayor James Fouts’ bumper stickers criticizing Michigan’s right-to-work law.

Matt Frendewey, communications director for the state GOP, insists he did not submit to the city a recent request under the Freedom of Information Act for documents about the cost to report and mail the stickers.

Fouts announced Jan. 2 he is giving away the free bumper stickers and that he paid for them at his own expense — not through city funds or from his campaign committee. The same day, Warren officials received a FOIA request through the city’s website, from someone using Frendewey’s name, according to city records.

In the FOIA request, a copy of which was obtained by The Macomb Daily, the sender provided an email address but no mailing address or phone number.

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Frendewey, who worked in state government for eight years under former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, said Tuesday he feels like a victim of identity theft. He said he plans to file a complaint with the Warren Police Department.

“I think, at the very least, whomever did this has some sort of explaining to do,” he said. “I’ve heard of folks using fake names before, but to purposely disguise yourself using someone else’s name … it raises a question of legality.

“It’s childish and amateurish. They should be embarrassed.”

Frendewey has served as the state GOP spokesman for a little over one year. He said he doesn’t know whether the FOIA request may have been intended to besmirch him or state Republicans, but said the information sought is not the issue.

The “Frendewey FOIA” has Warren officials reviewing the city’s handling of requests for public records.

The mayor called the circumstances “highly unusual” and said he has directed the city’s legal department to dig into the initial request.

“Is this a legitimate person or is it a phony name?” he said. “It raises a question of how many email FOIA requests are legitimate and how many are fake and fraudulent.”

Attempts to reach Warren City Attorney James Biernat for comment were unsuccessful.

The Macomb Daily left an email message for the person who submitted the FOIA request but did not immediately receive a reply.

Fouts pointed out that any request by GOP party loyalists for public information about the anti-right-to-work bumper stickers would not surprise him, considering the lame-duck, Republican-controlled Legislature’s passage of right-to-work bills last month and Gov. Rick Snyder swiftly signing them into law.

Confident that nobody else in the United States also has his name, Frendewey added: “It reeks of desperation by someone who’s sunk to the lowest level of dialogue.”